Online gambling has become one of the most popular forms of entertainment the world over, for both regular gamblers who have played in a physical casino before and those who are just looking to have some fun and play casino games on their smartphone whilst on the move.
With the online casino industry legally opening up in new countries and territories in recent years, there is now a plethora of choices for players, but there remain the older online casinos that might not have legal licences to operate in your location. It is important that, as a player, you choose to only play at legal online casinos.
Legalisation of online casinos
Over the last few years, there have been a few countries that have legalised online gambling and paved the way for a new forefront of online casinos in each country and territory.
In some regions there has been legal online gambling for some time, such as in some states of the United States, in some provinces of Canada, in the United Kingdom and most countries in the European Union.
In other places it has been more recent, and we’ve seen major growth in these areas and technological advancement, such as with the legalisation of online gambling in The Philippines, Singapore in 2016, Colombia in 2017, and the Netherlands in 2021.
Improvement in online casino technology
The world of online casinos is relatively new in the grand scheme of things. Technology has improved significantly over the last decade or so, allowing for online providers of casino games to showcase innovative design, gameplay and interactive elements.
It’s never been easier to pick up your phone or open up your laptop and play your favourite online casino games. Not only that, but streaming technology and stable internet connections are making it simple to play live casino games online.
This is where a casino floor built in a studio with several table games and human croupiers deal cards and spin the roulette wheel, whilst you virtually join the table and speak to the dealer and fellow players through a chat function. It is as close to an authentic land casino as possible.
The benefits of playing at a legal online casino
There are a few good reasons why you should only play at a legal online casino, ditching those illegal casinos that were prevalent in some countries prior to online gambling being legalised. The benefits include:
Protection of players
Playing at a legal casino ensures that as a player, you have a good protection of your interests. In order to gain a legal operating licence, an online casino must adhere to strict regulations that make sure all gambling activities are fair and transparent.
At a legal online casino, you can play with the peace of mind that your bets are not being manipulated and that payouts are made in accordance with set legal rules.
Right to dispute
If you have any problems at all when playing at a legal online casino, they must give you the right to complain. It also means that you can resolve any disputes with a casino through the relevant regulatory and legal bodies that that casino is linked to through its licensing. This will differ according to the country it is located in.
Fair play
Random number generators and an approach of fair play at all times is crucial to how a legal online casino functions. They are obliged to follow extremely strict rules and to have high, consistent standards where this is concerned, meaning that there is no manipulation of numbers and no one person can predict what happens next in any casino game.
Responsible gambling
Legal casinos must show clear protocols that help to protect players from problematic gambling patterns and do everything they can to support the prevention of gambling addiction and harmful behaviour. This can be seen in how casinos set personal limits for each player, deposit limits, loss guarantees and time-outs of sessions are all effective measures in this regard.
Gambling addiction support services should also be clearly marked and easy to find for players, and customer support services should be looking out for problematic patterns and interacting with players when they believe there is an issue.Choose a reputable, legal online casino that you know will not only offer a wide range of exciting online casino games for you to choose from, but they will also look after your best interests.
For example, the Dutch online casino Kansino is paying out within 5 minutes. This can be found in how the online casino deals with responsible gambling protocols, whether or not they have an official, legal casino licence, how good the customer service support is, whether or not there are limits on how much you can spend and how long you can play for, as well as safe and secure deposit processes when you wish to put more money into your account in order to play.
All of these things come together to ensure that you are playing at a legal, safe online casino that also provides you with a lot of fun games to play!
